Medics, Teachers and Police Organisations Sign Up To Adopt Professional Evidence

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) have joined heads of UK professional bodies to publicly sign and publish an evidence Magna Carta, with a further aim to embed the declaration principles within the strategic objectives of their institutions.

The evidence declaration signing was hosted by the Alliance for Useful Evidence and Professor Jonathan Shepherd CBE, Royal College of Surgeons and Cardiff University, and chaired by Lord O'Donnell. Principal speakers included Professor Dame Alison Peacock, Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, Professor Carrie MacEwen, Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, of The College of Policing Board. The event focused on the sustainability of commitment to the evidence declaration and how to ensure the values proclaimed therein are built into the foundations of these national institutions.

The declaration on evidence created by Professor Shepherd and agreed upon by the Colleges reads as follows:

"Evidence of what works and what doesn’t has become, through formal trial and error across all professions and public services, a foundation of professional practice. Equally, many untested interventions can do more harm than good and are wasteful of public and private resource.Therefore, Medical Royal Colleges, the College of Policing and the Chartered College of Teaching as leaders of our professions, declare that our institutions expect all members to take full account of evidence and evidence informed guidance in their daily decisions and advice to individuals and organisations.

Further, because potential new policies and interventions need to be tested for effectiveness and cost benefit, we also declare that our institutions expect and will support rigorous evaluation.

To these ends we undertake to ensure that these principles are reflected as appropriate in our respective values, constitutions or conditions of membership".